Language sample
Last updated
A language sample is a recording of a student's natural talk, transcribed and analyzed to measure everyday language skills.
Topic: Speech and language
In plain terms
The SLP records conversation, play, a story retell or an explanation, then transcribes it. From the transcript, the SLP can measure sentence length, grammar, vocabulary variety, narrative structure and intelligibility. Language samples show how a student talks in real communication, which standardized tests may miss.
How it shows up in an IEP
Samples provide baselines and progress data for expressive language goals. Using the same kind of task each time, such as retelling the same type of story, keeps samples comparable.
Example
An SLP records a student retelling a wordless picture book, finds 40% of sentences missing verb endings, and writes a goal for past tense -ed with a follow-up sample each quarter.
Related terms
- MLU (mean length of utterance)MLU is the average length of a child's utterances in a language sample, usually counted in morphemes, used to measure language development.
- Expressive languageExpressive language is the ability to put thoughts into words and sentences to communicate, through speech, sign, writing or AAC.
- Narrative languageNarrative language is the ability to tell or retell stories and events in an organized way, with characters, setting, problem and resolution.
- IntelligibilityIntelligibility is how much of a person's speech a listener can understand, often given as a percent of words understood.
- SLP (speech-language pathologist)An SLP is a licensed professional who evaluates and treats speech, language, voice, fluency, social communication and swallowing disorders.
On IEP Atlas
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